Prologue

Stormstar prowled through the undergrowth, near Sunningrocks. He felt the presence of his warrior ancestors, as if they were leading him to something extremely important.

He pricked his ears and raised his head as a faint mew caught his attention. An unfamiliar scent hit the roof of his mouth—not the scent of any Clan cat he knew. He looked around but didn't see a trace of any cats. He dropped into a crouch and decided to stalk the cat—it might as well be an enemy. He padded closer to the scent and out of the corner of his eye saw a flash of ginger. He checked the scent again and he knew it was only one cat—possibly a kitten.

He relaxed his shoulders and stepped boldly out into the clearing where a ginger kit cowered.

"Who are you?" he growled, staring at the tiny kit.

The she-kit crouched, making herself small and unthreatening. "Um, Maple," she mewed weakly.

"Oh." Stormstar's voice was gentler now. "You have nothing to fear. Don't worry."

Just then the scent of vole flooded into Stormstar's nose, and his mouth watered. His blood pulsed through his veins.

Stormstar dropped into a hunter's crouch and found the vole sitting under the shade of a boulder. He crept towards it, his paws making no sound at all. A heartbeat passed when Stormstar finally pounced. With one swift blow the vole was his, and it took a bite to its neck.

Stormstar carried it to the kit, whose eyes had lit up with respect.

"Wanna share?" he asked with the vole in his mouth. Maple nodded rapidly and he dropped the vole at her paws.

He sat down with his tail neatly over his paws and took a bite. Maple purred as she chewed little bits, though she was not thin. Does she know how to hunt? Stormstar wondered.

"Now, how did you get here?"

"I-I drank from the river a-and a cat with stars in his fur c-came to me." Maple gulped down the last of her meal. "He told me some kind of saying."

"A prophecy!" Stormstar exclaimed. "Can you remember what he said?"

Maple nodded. "I am the last hope and only I can bring peace to the forest." She looked at him with puzzlement.

Stormstar murmured. StarClan had led him to this kit for a reason.

"Were you abandoned?" he asked. "Where do you come from?"

"I come from that place," she meowed, flicking her tail towards the Twolegplace.

He stared at her with shocked but amused eyes. "You're a kittypet?

The kit suddenly stood up, her fur bristling. "My father was forest-born!" she meowed fiercely with challenging eyes. "And yes, I was abandoned."

Stormstar looked at her with questioning eyes. Maple continued: "I lived there because my mother, Fluffy, was a kittypet, as you would call them." Maple had a hint of edge in her mew. "But my father was Redfur, a wild cat. Fluffy raised me all by herself, and I never knew Redfur. When Fluffy found out her owners were going to sell me she had no choice but to leave me with Redfur. But she never saw him again, and she had to abandon me in the forest, hoping he would find me."

Maple glanced at Stormstar proudly. "I must have his forest blood because, strangely, I can hunt! No cat has taught me – I knew it all myself!"

Stormstar knew this kit was special.

"Come, I will show you where I stay. I stay with a Clan of cats, and you're welcome to join." Maple looked uncertain. "I can tell you about your father and more on the way!"

Maple was instantly persuaded. "Okay!"

They trotted side by side, and, though she didn't know it, Maple was trotting towards her destiny. StarClan had set her on the right path.